Yeah, I poster similarly on OO earlier. I got so hyped I went out and laid down my $29.99 tonight. Installing as I type. I'll try to drop some impressions later on tonight. Nice pricepoint for a quality game.

Giving this a bump here and at OO to say that I finally got around to the tutorials on this one and I am pleasantly surprised. It really is a fresh look at the genre, and the game appears to have some very interesting depth. I'm looking forward to getting deeper in.

Last I checked the NOCD blocks out the editor mode. Try building a wall yet? I had to use a dud image mounted in Alcohol to bypass, which should be compatible with the patch as it doesn't alter the EXE.

There is also some significant difficulties in the different time periods. I started a Frenchie on Rogue in the 1600 time frame and they only have two ports, ha but the daughter of Tortuga will be mine!. It makes raiding the Main nigh but impossible when your base is in Tortuga or worse Florida Keys. This is significantly harder than even the Dutch during Buccaneer Heroes.

The game is by definition repetitive, but most great games are on some level. Its more of a complicated diversion than anything. But that's what pirates always was, and it still holds up. I have my own little irritations with some of the little things, but Firaxis has stood behind all of their products and this should be no exception.

Fencing Combat has three attacks and three blocks, plus a taunt key. It's fairly simplistic but at harder difficulties requires a keen eye and some level of reflexes.

The 'story' is that you need to rescue four members of your immediate family who were kidnapped and cast into slavery by the evil Marquis Montalban when you were 8 years old. So if you are looking for plot, each game allows you to do anything you want, but you are kinda supposed to be hunting Baron Raymondo for information on where each of your family members are and then avenge them by raiding Marquis Montalban's secret hideout. There are also hidden treasures and famous pirates to battle, as well as the Lost City of the Incas to find and the SPanish Treasure Fleet to hunt down and plunder.

All of this stuff is generated random each game, so even though the characters are the same, it never works identically.

You can also adopt a political agenda and depending on which era you play try to push back the development of one of the opposing national empires while spreading your own. There's really a lot of flexibility in terms of how you want to spend your pirate's limited lifespan. Eventually he is forced to retire and given a ranking. And in that sense you can compete against your own best scores.

Its worth noting that you won't really feel the true difficulty hit till you start a new game at that level. If you ramp up as you go, you still have the benefit of all of your ranks, crew members, and items. These things are harder to obtain at higher difficulties and really help a lot. Starting from scratch at Adventurer or Rogue is going to be significantly tougher than working your way up during a succesful campaign.

The mouse scroll wheel does control zoom, despite the mouse not being the preferred interface. I haven't figured out what the keyboard shortcut it is, but the mouse wheel lets you pull pretty far back.

- There doesn’t seem to be a menu option to select the difficulty level...

The first time you play there are no options. After that they will be there.

Quote from: "Roguetad"

-I think there are a few quest bugs. Nothing I’ve encountered that’s a game breaker, but I’ve hunted and defeated the same baron who supposedly knows where my family is 4 times now. Each time I defeat him I get a new piece of the find my sister map. It’s weird though because the folks giving me the tips on his whereabouts act like I’ve never heard of him, even though I’ve sent him to the ocean floor 4 times.

I've noticed the too. I wonder if it is intentional or what? After I rescued my sister she sent me after another guy, but the same guy keeps having the maps. Hmmm.

What bugs me is that the basic combat engine doesn't feel good until you really pump up your stats. Deus Ex, a game which clearly inspired Vampire quite a bit, had a very good base combat engine from which the additional combat stats really built upon.

Maybe I'm wrong but I distinctly remember starting Deus Ex after finishing HL1 for the first time, and thinking how bad the pistol action sucked.

I've found the combat has really grown on me. I'm really enjoying my pimpsuit wearing Malkavian smashing skulls with a sledgehammer. In some ways I get really pumped before each of the major battles. The Warrens were a bit much though. Melee is 8 and Ranged is 7, I could see how I might not feel the same if I hadn't put the points there though.

Yes I'd like to find more than I have. Yes, The clothing options are weak. Yes you find more with a higher inspection.

No more inventory micromanaging ala Dungeon Siege/Divine Divinity is a good thing IMO. If I have to sort through 20 swords one more time... I also enjoy that I don't feel the inexplicable desire to enter every building I pass just to see if I can steal stuff; I've always found that jarring. I feel like the lack of looting keeps the game more 'story' based.

I've been playing a Malkavian as a jack-of-all-trades type. The only situation he's had trouble with so far is the cemetary situation and that's really a matter of speed on my part. I have put NO points into obfuscate or auspex. Just three into Dementation so far. He is well versed in melee and ranged and good with secirity and hacking. I'm curious if I'm gonna hit a wall somewhere, but I'm well in to Hollywood and so far so good. I could see how it would be hard to stick to the boilerplate Malk though. Mine is basically a brilliantly insane serial killer in his own right. Total Chaos.

So during the buggy ride when you stop at the big suspension bridge...

I made it all the way out and flipped the switch behind the forcefield. Do I really have to work my way back while trying to deal with that gunship? I tried to take it out but its really hard with all the metal bridge beams around. And those machineguns chew right through your armor. Any tips?

Could you elaborate a little? I've never seen PoP in action. Is combat like a fish slapping contest with little numbers floating up when a hit is scored, or is it dynamic, where you're able to move around, fps style?

Now that I've stopped laughing... The melee IS strangely like a fish-slapping contest, though I never would have put it that way, but from a 3rd-person perspective. Now that I think about it the melee is a lot like sabre fighting in Jedi Outcast/Academy. But there are also ranged weapons and magic powers that function basically as you'd expect them to.

Combat is not the focus of the game. It's a sizeable portion but there is a LOT more going on. The fighting is a little odd but it in no way wrecks the game. Morrowind's combat is WAY worse and that is one of the best RPG's ever IMO.